This invention relates to methods for producing rice products and those products, and more particularly, relates to methods for producing dry instant rice porridge mixes and the mixes.
Rice porridge is a traditional product consumed primarily in Scandinavian and other European countries, but it is also consumed in many Latin-American countries. It is conventionally prepared by boiling rice in milk for about an hour and results in cooked rice in a creamy sauce or matrix. It is eaten warm or hot as an entree or holiday food, usually with cinnamon sugar, butter, and/or milk added just before it is eaten. It may also be served as a left-over or snack food.
However, the preparation of this product is both long and tedious, since the milk must be constantly stirred to pevent scalding during the cooking process. This is true even if precooked, or "instant", rice is employed as the starting product for the rice. For precooked rice, or instant rice, the rice must still be cooked for a long time to allow starch to dissolve or leach out of the rice grains, and in combination with milk solids to provide the requisite texture to the final product.
Applicant is not aware of any prior art relating to instant rice porridge mixes having identifiable rice grains. Applicant is aware of a semi-long cook porridge rice, "Ming Grot-Ris", manufactured by Appotecus Labitorium of Norway. This "Ming" rice requires about 15 minutes of simmering and is believed to employ thermally cycled rice similar to that described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,189,426. However, the "Ming" rice requires more cooking time and attention than the mixes of the present invention.
Further, Applicant is aware of U.S. Pat. No. 3,467,528 which discloses a dry rice pudding mix, that has dry mix materials coated on the surface of precooked rice grains. Although characterized as a "precooked" rice, the mix of this patent employs what is conventionally (by the rice processing industry) called an instant rice. An instant, or "instantized" rice as used herein and as generally used by the rice processing industry means a rice which is ready for consumption (i.e., fully gelatinized and rehydrated to a 60-80% moisture content) after being placed in hot or boiling water which is heated or reheated to boiling, removed from heat and thereafter allowed to stand for about five minutes (i.e., a pregelatinized rice).
One of the mix materials coating the rice for the aforementioned dry rice pudding mix is starch, which serves to help thicken the pudding; this starch substitutes for the starch cooked out of the rice grains during the conventional rice pudding preparation process. Further, even though the rice ingredient is precooked, or instantized, this pudding mix requires about ten minutes of simmering (because of the mix coating the rice) in milk to produce a product which is then cooled, or chilled, and eaten. This pudding composition differs from the porridge mix of the present invention, among other ways, in that this pudding mix is formulated to provide a food with the desired texture, consistency and appearance after it is cooled or chilled, whereas a porridge is formulated to be eaten hot, or warm. Additionally, pudding mixes contain sugar which may serve as an additional thickening agent (in addition to the starch) while the porridge mixes of the present invention do not contain sugar.
These and other limitations and disadvantages of the prior art are overcome by the present invention, however, and dry instant rice porridge mixes are provided together with improved methods for producing dry instant dehydrated rice porridge mixes.